The Veggie Pride Parade and Rally happened yesterday, Sunday 5/18, and made its way from the Meatpacking District to Washington Square Park.

I wanted to witness usage of the very-much-diminished-in-size Washington Square Park (much of it behind gates) for an organized event but I missed it. When I arrived, the rally had ended – early due to the rain which began falling heavily early afternoon.

Nonetheless, the Park is quite charming in the rain.

The New York Times has a nice article today covering the Veggie Pride Parade/Rally. Apparently, it’s modeled after an event that takes place in Paris (which does add a bit more cachet to the whole thing). There is an interesting tid bit about the food cart vendors at Washington Square Park – how the vegan N.Y. Dosas cart (which returned last week – after a four month break) fared yesterday vs. the hot dog vendor:

The parade arrived at Washington Square Park about 1 p.m. Vegan jerky sticks were passed about, and a costume competition was held. …

Rain began to fall and the crowd started to disperse, yet through the drizzle a long line stretched from Thiru Kumar’s dosa cart, a vegetarian stand that won an award for best street food last year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, business was decidedly thin at Salem Atwah’s hot-dog stand, on the southwest corner or Washington Square South and LaGuardia Place. Rarely, Mr. Atwah said, had he sold so few hot dogs.

“It’s because of the vegetarians,” he said. “It’s one of my worst days in four years.”

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For my Activist Friends

Realize that little things lead to bigger things ... And there's a wonderful parable in the New Testament: The sower scatters seeds. Some seeds fall in the pathway and get stamped on, and they don't grow. Some fall on the rocks, and they don't grow. But some seeds fall on fallow ground, and they grow and multiply a thousandfold. Who knows where some good little thing that you've done may bring results years later that you never dreamed of.
~ Pete Seeger